The British Indian Ocean Territory: A warning to the CANZUK realms

The CANZUK overseas territories

The sun never sets on the overseas territories. This continuation of the old, imperial mantra demonstrates the global reach of the United Kingdom. Factoring in the overseas dependencies of Australia and New Zealand, CANZUK has a global reach, with 25 overseas territories across all continents bar Asia. These 25 territories comprise one-sixth of the total CANZUK territory. Their value lies in their strategic locations along key chokepoints. A secondary but still important asset is their role as regional hubs of natural conservation. In short, they are multipliers of CANZUK's hard and soft power.

The network of overseas territories is by no means Empire MkII. Every populated overseas territory has demonstrated a strong desire to remain a constituent territory of their respective realm. This is the fundamental difference between the CANZUK territories and, for example, those of France. One territory is different: the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). This article will focus upon the BIOT in detail for obvious current reasons. The BIOT provides clear examples of the benefits of all the overseas territories to the CANZUK realms and a clear warning about what happens when these are taken for granted.

The context 

With no permanent population, the BIOT occupies a special place within the British Overseas Territories. It is maintained due to its geopolitical usefulness rather than a desire by the population to be British. The BIOT was part of the colony of Mauritius before being separated when Mauritius became independent. The Mauritians were paid the modern-day equivalent of £70 million in compensation. Its population, the Chagossians, were removed to make room for a military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island. The Chagossians have campaigned for 50 years to return to Diego Garcia. Importantly, this is a campaign purely to return to the territory, not for it to be ruled by another country.

The BIOT has been the subject of an increasingly intense debate about who is the legal owner. Mauritius claims the territory, believing that the UK breached the UN Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples by disrupting the territorial integrity of the colony. The British Government, until this month (October of 2024), believed the acceptance of compensation by Mauritius represented an approval of the creation of the BIOT. Mauritius launched a campaign to put international pressure on the UK to enter negotiations, which were turbocharged by Brexit, after which European countries largely stopped backing the UK’s position. This campaign did not change British minds, with the then-Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, withdrawing from negotiations as recently as last year (2023). However, the new Labour Government has agreed to cede the BIOT to Mauritius. They claim this is to abide by the UK’s legal obligations. The military base on Diego Garcia will continue to exist on a 99-year lease. However, the British Government will pay Mauritius for this whilst losing sovereign control of the surrounding air, land and sea.

This leads to two important questions: what is the point of the BIOT? Why are so many people concerned about the UK Government choosing to cede it to another country? Well, we at the Conservative Friends of CANZUK are very concerned. There are key strategic implications for the loss of the BIOT. Whether it be economic, security, or natural, hard or soft power; the loss of BIOT is the loss of CANZUK strength.

The importance of the BIOT

The BIOT is the most important territory in the Indian Ocean. Centrally located, the territory is a key connection between Western military bases in Europe and Africa and the Eastern military bases in Australia, New Zealand, and other allied nations. Without the BIOT, there is a gap of 640,000 km2 between the two halves of the global alliance which is defending the post-WWII order against Russia and China. Diego Garcia projects Western power and influence across the entirety of the Indian Ocean. For a potential CANZUK military alliance, this is a vital stepping stone linking Canada and the UK with Australia and New Zealand.

The BIOT is located near the major east-west seaway. It provides an unparalleled level of influence over this area, ranging from direct protection against piracy to the monitoring of hostile actors. CANZUK as an economic entity will live or die based on the security of international seaways. It is split across three continents, with potential economic insecurity being its Achilles heel. The BIOT ensures there are no security gaps. A less well-known strength of the BIOT is the natural wealth of the territory. Since the Chagos Marine Protected Area was established in 2010, the BIOT has become one of the most important hubs of biodiversity within the entire Indian Ocean, positively affecting the whole ecosystem. 640,000 km2 around the territory are protected. This is a huge boost for marine protection. This is a major boost for CANZUK's global soft power in an era of increased awareness of the importance of our natural capital.

The risks of transferring the territory

What are the risks of the BIOT being transferred to Mauritius? To quote our President, Lord Hannan, the Government ‘…has just given away the most strategic piece of real estate in the Indian Ocean and has somehow ended up paying for it’. In security terms, this is a major issue. Even though the provisional agreement will ensure a UK-US military presence for 99 years, this is inherently more precarious than controlling the territory. Diego Garcia is surrounded by hundreds of smaller islands and islets. Hostile powers could construcyt observation posts on any of these. These risks are hightened when one considers China's increasing overtures to the Mauritian Government. The US Government was concerned about this and passed these concerns to British officials during the negotiations. As mentioned, the BIOT loss as a sovereign British entity will create a large gap between CANZUK and other allied military bases. This weakens Britain and CANZUK whilst also weakening the entire alliance of free peoples. 

Economically, the loss of the BIOT means there is less economic security in this section of the Indian Ocean. Again, whilst the Diego Garcia base will provide for oversight and protection of the surrounding seaways, hostile powers could more easily exert their influence and strength over Mauritius and surrounding states. The reason for this is simple: we will no longer have sovereign control over the Exclusive Economic Zone of the BIOT.

In soft power terms, the plight of the Chagossians and nature conservation are key. The Chagossians had not been consulted about this transfer. Instead, their homeland is to be transferred against their will from the United Kingdom to another country that has never had responsibility for the territory. It is one thing to negotiate for the Chagossians to return to the BIOT, it is an entirely different matter to transfer their historic lands to another country. In the future, how can the United Kingdom stand with its fellow CANZUK realms in defence of self-determination? As Andrew Rosindell MP, our Chief Patron in the Commons, has highlighted, this decision tramples upon the principles of self-determination and betrays the Chagossians. Nature conservation within the BIOT is, as mentioned, strong. However, this will be endangered by future Mauritian administrations deciding to exploit the islands commercially – which they likely would do. Mauritius is relatively overdeveloped, and the Chagos Archipelago represents free real estate. A stronghold of nature conservation will be purposefully degraded, proving that the UK Government abandons its general obligations when politically expedient.

What lessons can be learnt from this debacle? 

1.      When the CANZUK realms sign treaties, they must ensure these treaties are right for them. It may be politically expedient to sign X, but the question is whether this will help or hinder our long-term strategic interests. The realms should examine the efficacy of existing international treaties. If there are issues, the realms could work towards improving them.

2.      The CANZUK realms must make decisions based on realpolitik instead of strict legalism. This decision has degraded British hard and soft power, endangered our interests, and left a gap our adversaries would be foolish not to exploit.

3.      This decision is being made to fulfil a desire by the current Government to increase its soft power. But this is illusory. We are giving up hard power for no concrete benefits. What will the UK gain from this agreement which it did not already have? It is difficult to think of anything. The CANZUK realms must work to increase their hard and soft power, not to fade into the background.

The decision to hand the BIOT to Mauritius is bad for the UK and CANZUK, is a betrayal of the Chagossians, and will degrade the natural environment. It indicates to our other dependencies that we are not fully committed to them. Gone are the days of Sir Tony Blair proclaiming ‘We shouldn’t lose any more territory. Britain’s not big enough’. All the CANZUK overseas territories occupy vital positions along global chokepoints and seaways. They are inhabited by loyal subjects of the Crown who do not wish to be forced to join a foreign entity. They are also beacons of nature conservation in a world of increasing environmental degradation. If the CANZUK governments are not fully committed to protecting them, we will see an erosion of our influence across every domain.

Elliott Malik

Director and Secretary of the Conservative Friends of CANZUK